The taco renaissance taking the nation by storm is spurred partly by innovative chefs. But Americans seem to have recently realized that just about anything tastes better and is more fun to eat when it’s nestled in a folded tortilla.

By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, HAAC

At the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts in Chicago, we keep our finger on the pulse of emerging food trends. What’s on the horizon in the taco realm? Fish tacos.

While fish tacos aren’t new, they’re not yet everywhere. After first tasting a Baja fish taco in Mexico, Ralph Rubio returned to San Diego to hand-craft his own recipe and introduced America to the fish taco in 1983. Now with dozens of restaurants in California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado, Rubio’s still menus The Original Fish Taco® that started it all: sustainable wild Alaska pollock hand-dipped in seasoned beer batter and cooked to crispy perfection, then topped with Rubio’s white sauce, mild salsa and fresh cabbage and served on a warm stone-ground corn tortilla and garnished with a slice of lime.

A Washburne Culinary Institute instructor wins second prize, and students from Wisconsin and Indiana cook their way to cash awards in the 2012 Discover Duck Chef Recipe Contest.

Duck, a natural fit for today’s global cooking culture, was very evident in the 2012 Maple Leaf Farms Chef Recipe Contest. This year’s contest challenged entrants in two categories—professional chef and culinary student—to produce an original small-plate recipe showcasing Maple Leaf Farms duck. More than 250 entries from across the country were submitted in competition for the cash prizes.

Shane Schaibly doesn’t feel his fondue-specific menu is limiting. So how does the 30-year-old corporate chef of a 140-unit franchise exercise his creativity?

By Lynn Schwartz

“There are few meals left that require guests to interact,” says Shane Schaibly. “Fondue is one. Since it is necessary for the customer to cook at the table, fondue fosters a communal experience.” Schaibly is corporate chef for Front Burner Brands, Inc., a fast-casual restaurant-management company headquartered in Tampa, Fla., which includes The Melting Pot, a premier fondue-restaurant franchise.

“Fondue is both delicious and convivial,” says Schaibly. Plenty of diners must agree. The Melting Pot has more than 140 locations in North America. The niche-specific menu moves beyond the classic Swiss tradition of dipping bread into a central pot of melted cheese, and Schaibly has found a surprising range of creative opportunities for both menu development and teaching.

There are many ways to deepen relationships with those you already know and broaden and appreciate the range of people you talk to and work with. This fall might just be the time to try them.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Last month, we talked about helping students connect with ideas. This month, the focus will be on building or expanding our connections to colleagues, industry partners and other professionals. Since the professionals we know make a real difference in our personal and professional lives—not to mention what we can do in the classroom—the topic seems timely as semesters start again this fall.

When are all salts created equal, and when do they have distinct culinary uses? Here’s a primer on teaching the qualities and characteristics of the world’s most common seasoning.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

I was recently asked to give a presentation at the San Francisco Exploratorium (a hands-on science museum) about salt. During three hours, I had more than 400 people stop at my display and taste salt, discuss different types of salt and question the difference between cooking with salt and finishing food with salt.

The next day, I was reading the March 2012 National Culinary Review, and on page nine it listed 12 food trends for 2012. Number 10 was: “Salt: premium finishing varieties and artisanal presentation.” Something was telling me to write about teaching SALT.